40 Comments

General Commentthis is my favorite song off of one of my favorite dylan albums. it's a touching lament for a lost love. i'm still moved when i hear it. to me it's amazing how powerful dylan's lyrics can be. i've had to leave behind people i've loved, and i still think about them and wonder how they're doing and how they look. it's the empathy i have with this song that makes it so personal to me.

General CommentA song of dedication to a true love that has been lost. Not a wanting of return of the girl but to make sure that she is taken care of because her comfort calms his soul.. I can relate.. Love lost..

General CommentWell I can tell you all this song is written about the North Country HA...okay no one gets that joke, ya'll are gonna think I'm being dumb, let me explain.

Northern New York.
It's called the North Country.

How do I know? This is where I'm from.

Why am I saying that? Our fair was a BIG DEAL back in the day...so on so forth. Plus if you were actually from here you'd know just from the lyrics. So I take it as he took the idea for the song from Scaraborough Fair and wrote it about a girl from the North Country instead!

Everytime I listen to this song, I wish it wasn't right now and it was back then before our fair failed. It's going on right now. People are shocked because they have Randy Travis and they sold out.

General CommentI don't care much for the version on Nashville Skyline, but I absolutely adore the one on Freewheelin'. In the original he sounds like he's just laying his soul bare for the listener to see. So tender and conflicted.

I also like how you can tell that, even though the love is no more, he still cares for her (please see she has a coat so warm, to keep her from the howling winds). It's like he's too proud to go and check in on her himself, so he's trying to get you to do it, but he still wants the best for her.

General Comment^ a fair is a kind of carnival in British English, that's how I've always assumed he meant it. Re: comment 4, the writing in the booklet is thus:

Girl From The North Country was first conceived by Bob Dylan about three years before he finally wrote it down in December 1962. "That often happens," he explains. "I carry a song in my head for a long time and then it comes bursting out." The song -- and Dylan's performance -- reflect his particular kind of lyricisim. The mood is a fusion of yearning, poignancy and simple appreciation of a beautiful girl. Dylan illuminates all these corners of his vision, but simultaneously retains his bristling sense of self. He's not about to go begging anything from this girl up north.

The song is based on an old English folk song 'Scarborough Fair', which is as you describe, a carnival gathering. However, I think Dylan has made reference to the original song but given the word one of its other meanings, beautiful, or comely. The song is one of fond recollection with a hint of sadness. The 'North Country' is remembered as 'fair', it makes the setting for his 'true love' who we can assume is pretty and makes up part of the loveliness he remembers. It also hints of the seasons; when he was with her was a greener more pleasant time; now the wind hits heavy on the border line. He remembers just how fair she was, her hanging down to her breast, now he imagines the snow and wishes her well in "a coat so warm". The contrast between 'fair' and 'bleak' is what makes the song, for me at least.

General CommentHe should have never recorded this with Cash. They never really did very well together. I actually don't think that Dylan ever had a good duet with anyone. This song is great though when he did it on his own. Great song!

@swiftyguitar I respect your opinion...but I disagree. You have the stark beauty of the original recording...then, at the end of the 60s, Dylan and Cash belt out a stunning version to open Nashville Skyline...
I recommend you get a decent turntable and a 1st pressing of that album and listen again...you'll be hooked.

General CommentI know Echo Helstrom...met her when I lived in L.A. We worked together at MGM Studios. She dated Bob fo a year in high school...they spent a lot of their time listening to music...I'm sure she was an inspiration to him, encouraging him. He gave her his ID bracelet, which was kind of like a going steady ring back then. But she gave it back when she felt he was seeing other girls. The lyrics of the song tell me he is talking about Echo...especially when he talks of the "cold winds by the borderline"...Canada is to the north of Minnesota and Hibbing is far north not too far from the border...cold.. You can tell by the look on his face when he sings the song when he is young....he is thinking of someone and still kind of sad about it....this is no generic song.

General CommentDylan apparantly wrote this song about his high-school love, named Echo. The Zimmerman (Dylan) family was a big deal in Hibbing, and apparantly Echo's family was really poor or just Not Good and they didn't approve of the relationship.
I'm like 95% sure that this song is at least loosely based on Scarborough Fair. Can anyone confirm that???

General Commentfrom what ive read...Dylan simply wrote it as a girl he appreciated that he saw every now and then...i dont think there was any love story directly involved...and im pretty sure it was written before Simon/Garfunkel made Scarborough Fair...

when i bought Freewheelin it came with a booklet that had Dylan explaining the song...and i let a friend borrow the CD and he gave it back with water and dirt in the case and the booklet missing...so i cant exactly substantiate it, but im pretty sure that was what Dylan intended...

General Commentfrom what ive read...Dylan simply wrote it as a girl he appreciated that he saw every now and then...i dont think there was any love story directly involved...and im pretty sure it was written before Simon/Garfunkel made Scarborough Fair...

when i bought Freewheelin it came with a booklet that had Dylan explaining the song...and i let a friend borrow the CD and he gave it back with water and dirt in the case and the booklet missing...so i cant exactly substantiate it, but im pretty sure that was what Dylan intended...